Monday, February 10, 2014

"Why
Speed Reading Is for Fools": A speed reader is sure to notice the title. I
hope the many good lines sprinkled throughout act as speed bumps, helping
would-be passers-by slow down and sit for a spell, as it were.

You could drive by the Grand Canyon at 100mph. "I saw 20
landmarks today." "Oh, really, I saw 45". But did they see
anything? Did they experience anything? They'd have felt and learned far
more if they had tried to do far less. You can race through a foreign nation
checking items off a list of "must-sees" or you can dig in deeper
and actually experience something of the culture you've taken so much
trouble to go and visit. Books, art, movies and
meals are no different. Two people can see the same exact thing in the same
moment and have entirely opposite experiences simply because of how quickly or
slowly they pay attention.

I am no speed reader, but I did, at first, think, "But you do sometimes need to
skim something or read it quickly." Berkun doesn't deny this, but he does raise
the following possibility: If you are rushing through everything,
maybe you should consider doing fewer things better.